Cobb to Angels

[jerios55]

I see a bunch of angry Angels fans on Rosenthals tweets, so it must be a good move...haha.

Looking forward to more thought out analysis on this guy.

[beantownrefugee]

Rotoworld says "Good job by Baltimore here."

 

Ken Rosenthal and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic report that Jahmai Jones will head to the Orioles in the trade for Alex Cobb. 

According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Orioles are paying more than half of Cobb's $15 million salary for this year, so they managed to buy themselves an interesting prospect. Jones, 23, is a former second-round pick who made his MLB debut over the summer; going 3-for-7 with an RBI in limited action. He's considered one of the better prospects in the Angels' system thanks to plus speed and the versatility to play at second base as well as the outfield. Good job by Baltimore here.

[Philip]

I wonder if he’s good enough to jump to the show this season? If so, there is the left of our infield.

Several oriole players are shedding tears of despair at this moment.

[VaBird1]

Seems like a great trade.

[NCRaven]

1 minute ago, Philip said:

I wonder if he’s good enough to jump to the show this season?

He made his debut with the Angels in 2020, so there is no reason he can't play 2B for the Orioles in 2021.  An actual MLB ready player instead of a 19 year old Dominican outfielder.  Whether it works out or not, I really like this trade.

[jabba72]

Jones had a .631 OPS in AA in 2019 so just another meh option for 2B.  But not 3B or SS. If he played SS that would be interesting at least but he only plays 2B. 

[fansince71]

Last full season was in double A with a less than stellar OPS.

[beervendor]

3 hours ago, TommyPickles said:

Even if its just a salary dump, this seems like good news. Wonder how much the Angels will be paying?

Cobb finishes his dissapointing Oriole tenure with the following stats:

3 Seasons, 41 GS, 5.10 ERA, 1 CG, 217.0 IP, 86 ERA+, 1.419 WHIP, 1.8 bWAR

Also 0-11 at OPCY in 18 starts. Brutal.

[NCRaven]

5 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Jones minor league stats don't look too good but I just read a pretty encouraging BA article that said he hit very well in 2019 in AA after he ditched suggested swing changes and went back to his original swing.  Over .300 in the 2nd half and a .885 OPS in the AFL.  Described as athletic and a good kid.

Surface stats don't tell the full story.  Yes, he improved later in the 2019 season.  And, he obviously did well enough in their 60 man camp to warrant a call up at the end of 2020.  A hiccup in the first half of his AA season does not a bust make.  Like I said before, may not make it but it's still a good trade.  And, it's a new trade for Elias.  A young MLB ready player instead of a lower level prospect.

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, jabba72 said:

Jones had a .631 OPS in AA in 2019 so just another meh option for 2B.  But not 3B or SS. If he played SS that would be interesting at least but he only plays 2B. 

He’s interesting enough.   He was a consensus top 100 prospect going into the 2018 season, and BP had him at no. 68 going into 2019.   Had a bad season that year so we’ll see what happens.   I’d guess he starts 2021 in AAA and is available for call-up if Sanchez and/or Valaika flounders.    

[LTO's]

This is welcome good news after a somewhat terrible January. This is more of a buying a prospect situation than it is a straight salary dump. That is encouraging. Jones didn't have a spot with the Angels this upcoming season so he became expendable to them. However, he's a better prospect than I think anyone was expecting when this news first dropped. Now we wait to see who we pick up to replace Cobb. 

[Frobby]

9 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Jones minor league stats don't look too good but I just read a pretty encouraging BA article that said he hit very well in 2019 in AA after he ditched suggested swing changes and went back to his original swing.  Over .300 in the 2nd half and a .885 OPS in the AFL.  Described as athletic and a good kid.

.537 OPS first 93 games, .870 over final 37.   

[Philip]

17 minutes ago, NCRaven said:

He made his debut with the Angels in 2020, so there is no reason he can't play 2B for the Orioles in 2021.  An actual MLB ready player instead of a 19 year old Dominican outfielder.  Whether it works out or not, I really like this trade.

Me too. After I posted my comment I saw he got seven at bats last season and three hits. It’s almost a 500 batting average. I’ll take that every day of the week.

I hope his defense is acceptable.

[Just Regular]

Jahmai Jones is exciting in the sense that he might represent a discretionary expenditure of several million dollars for a player who has had developmental bumps but is Vavra-ish.

Jones is a few months younger than Vavra, and has the Prep v. NCAA contrast.   His birthday is after July 1 so also messes up the thing where only Adley is on his Age-23 season this year.   He has bounced between 2B and CF, so maybe another starter kit for a plus 10th or 11th guy?

Perhaps another in Yusniel, Baumann, Lowther, Smith basket of maybe Memorial Day reinforcements?   Even on role player projection, would love to see full-time run this summer if he can handle AAA.   He had a AA cup of coffee in 2018, but hasn't mastered level yet.   I hope Sally MVP Vavra + a year off can get Baysox 2B.

 

[Philip]

A question for the crowd:

How many other trades has Mike made where the return included a “ready right now“ player? If this trend